In a move to inch its radio and print brands closer together, APN News media has created a new role for one of its top executives.

Jane Hastings will oversee the publishing, radio and digital businesses as chief executive of APN NZ.

Ms Hastings is currently the chief executive of the TRN radio unit that runs the brands such as ZM, Newstalk ZB, The Hits, Radio Sport and iHeartRadio in this market.

APN chief executive Michael Miller says while in the past the divisions had operated independently, the move is a start of a journey to integrate advertising. Ms Hastings will move from her office at TRN to the NZ Herald building.

He says advertisers are looking at cross promotion between different assets and the content marketing segment is growing.

Mr Miller says the structure below Ms Hastings is still “evolving” but she won’t be replaced at TRN.

APN says under Ms Hastings’ leadership the radio brands were APN’s standout business of 2013 with revenues up 9% and ebitda up 22% on 2012.

Ms Hastings brought in a new chief of content Dean Buchanan and launched the digital platform iHeartRadio.

The move means Martin Simons who currently oversees the publishing business will step down to take up a trans-tasman consulting role from May 12. He will remain based in Auckland.

Despite the combination of news brands such as NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB, Mr Miller says the newsrooms won’t be combined.

“It is important we continue to offer the consumers choice and there’s no incentive to run the businesses together.”

He says APN will launch a metered paywall within the next 12 months but was unable to give further specifics for pricing.